Tipping etiquette is some tough terrain to navigate. There are a number of issues to consider. How much to tip? Exactly when do I tip? Do I even need to tip? Will I get the tip at the restaurant this time and then you can pay next time? Should I try to be a bit fancy and transfer the tip through a discreet handshake? That maneouvre sounds fun, but requires more fine motor skills than I have to offer. All this may just tip me over the edge.
And then there's the whole tax not being automatically added thing, which gets kind of irritating at restaurants. I remember last time I visited America we would spend so long working out the tax and tip we almost needed to order more meals. You might say it was a taxing experience.
My previous trip also taught me a few lessons. One of the biggest? Completing a task yourself just to avoid tipping someone is an example of bad tipping etiquette. It was the last night at our hotel in New York and the last night of our adventure. Cash supplies were dwindling and we required money for our taxi to the airport, so we elected to forgo the bellboy and transport our own bags.
Our mission went a little like this. We assessed our situation: 3 girls, 10 suitcases, 1 elevator, several floors to descend and countless staff to avoid. We monitored the hallway until the coast was clear, then transfered our luggage onto one of those carrier things (this is its new name because I can't remember what it's actually called or be bothered to Google it). Once our luggage was on the carrier thing, we had to ensure our selected elevator was clear. It was. We were in the clear too, but only inside that elevator. Upon the doors opening on the ground floor we were greeted with the judgmental eyes of the staff we had previously avoided. We immediately regreted our decision. We played "dumb tourist not knowing we shouldn't have taken our luggage ourselves", but what we really were was "poor tourist on the last leg of our trip and money". It was the quickest way to offend people without having any interaction.
I still experience slight twinges of guilt about my scandalous tipping evasion and have certainly learnt my lesson. I could list my current concerns about tipping, but that already happened in paragraph one.
